Manchester Airports Group returned to profit in the year to March as the removal of Covid travel curbs triggered a surge in pent-up travel demand.
The owner of Manchester, Stansted and East Midands airports delivered an operating profit of £28.6 million against a loss of £130 million in the previous 12 months.
This came as passenger levels more than doubled year-on-year from 20.5 million to 54 million as volumes returned to close to pre-pandemic levels.
Demand was particularly strong in the low cost, short-haul segment, with seat capacity and passenger volumes exceeding pre-Covid levels at various times in the last quarter of the financial year.
The organisation noted that the rapid rise in demand as travel restrictions were lifted in the spring of 2022 caused “well documented operational issues” with Manchester airport “more acutely impacted”.
The company said: “MAG’s teams worked hard to improve service levels as the summer progressed, enabling airlines to operate their planned schedules so that passengers’ travel plans were protected throughout.
“Over the last year MAG has recruited more than 1,600 security officers across the group.
“All three of MAG’s airports are continuing to provide consistently good service levels, and we are committed to sustaining this performance and engaging with partners to optimise passenger experience.”
MAG added that investment plans are now being developed to enable Stansted to grow after planning permission was secured in 2021 to increase passenger capacity from 35 million to 43 million passengers a year.
Chief executive Charlie Cornish said: “This year’s results highlight the scale of the recovery that MAG and the aviation industry have seen over the last 12 months.
“With our airports’ route networks returning to full strength, we have been able to offer passengers the wide range of global destinations they enjoy.
“It has also been encouraging to see the strength of the recovery in demand for travel, with passenger traffic at our airports more than 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
“During my time as CEO I am proud of what the group has achieved, from a significant period of growth pre-pandemic and the work we have done to recover, to the leading role we continue to play in aviation decarbonisation.
“We are now focused on delivering investment across the group to enhance the airport experience for our passengers and drive future sustainable growth, and I look forward to overseeing these projects in my new role as MAG chair.”